Fully Functional iPhone 7 Lightning EarPods Shown Off in New Video

[dk001]

Guess we disagree. There are always some people who stomp & shout and make a big kerfluffle when standards change, and then the rest of us move on.

Also, if you hang out in these forums long enough you'll come to see that experienced IT professionals often are just as wrong as well educated general consumers, so claims like the one you made are specious.

Is this a standards change? Or a change for the sake of change? Or a ... ?

• 3.5 wired - standard well established
• BT standard well established (is Apple making real use of 4.2?)
• On iDevices Lightning is a standard and well established.

How is removing the 3.5 a standards change? Where is the improvement?
Next we will see a device without any plugs. BT, NFC, and wireless charging released in a device several generations too soon.

 

[Count Blah]

Why wait? I can tell you now how they will take it. 40% will embrace it and love it. 40% will barely notice and won't care. 10% will grumble for a while and then move and on forget about it. The last 10%... well, whiners gonna whine.

I know it's not right to say this, but I'd love for Apple to remove an aspect of the iPhone that you rely on, just so we can see how graceful YOU would react.

Yes, the word Smug does come to mind.

 

[canonical]

I need wireless headphones like I need a brain tumour. Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Count Blah]

I'm guessing most of them will go "huh, that's weird" and then plug them in and barely think about it.

Until they take their new lightening headphones and try to plug them in somewhere else, or take their existing headphones and try to plug them into the iPhone.

At that point, they will go "wow, that's really stupid and inconvenient." Or more likely - "Where did that adapter go? Now I can't listen to music until I replace it. Lets see how much it is at Apple.com.... $29.99!!! WTF?!?!!?"

 

[MH01]

Well I'm an office worker and only time i've seen anybody do that is on a night shift when it's quiet. Maybe in other countries it's normal. Just surprise the amount of people that have said this.

I guess it varies office to office .

 

[Count Blah]

So much whining.

I look forward to wireless and I have a feeling many problem are especially the younger demographic as well.

What's hilarious is if this becomes successful somehow and you start seeing the uniformity of it adopted by others.

What's hilarious about this headphone removal thing is the iPhone is known for being exactly like the whiners are mentioning in the comments. Changing and doing things differently for no apparent reason other than the Apple way. But they finally draw the line at headphone jack removal. I can't write this hilarity or make it up

And the Smugs don't realize that MANY people use 3.5mm, multiple times, every day. This is not the floppy, nor the CD-ROM. With the focus on Apple Music, you would think that Apple would want to maximize the ability to play music, not detract.

Couple that with bluetooth needing to be recharged daily, running out of juice when on the go, misplaced adapters, etc... and this will be much more painful, for WAY more users than the prior "forward thinking standard removals" Apple has done in the past.

And something the Smugs like you NEVER talk about, is that this amazing move forward could have progresses as it, seeing as you already had the same capabilities since the iPhone 5 - lightening connector. Using SMug logic, you should have switched entirely over to lightening headphones, or are enjoying recharging your wireless headphones daily.

Here's hoping all Smugs forget to charge their headphones, on a daily basis.

 

[dk001]

I've been using Bluetooth A2DP headsets since 2011. My JayBird's have lasted me ~5 years, great for the gym, no wires getting in the way of lifting. It's no different than vehicle Bluetooth Audio streaming, sounds great in my Audi. I have a pair of Bang & Olufsen H8's for travel - excellent sound quality, handsfree gesture controls on the right ear piece, 12+ hours on a 30 min charge, and additional batteries can be used to swap out between charges. A decent pair of Bluetooth headsets shouldn't cost more than $50-60 now.

I honestly don't understand the endless complaints about the possibility of losing a dated 3.5mm jack on a mobile phone. If you're using Apple's earbuds that's your first mistake.

Now if Apple would include even a set of H5's they would garner adoption.

Still, most iDevice owners do not have the means nor the want to grab a set of high ends for listening.
[doublepost=1470483979][/doublepost]

Out with old tech, in with the new tech. And the whiners will whine.

So... where is the "new" tech?

 

[CE3]

The more I think about losing the headphone jack, the more I dislike the idea. Granted, I don't need it as much on my iPhone, but it could still possibly deter me from upgrading just for the simple fact that I feel like buying sends a message to Apple that it's ok to do the same thing with iPads and Macs, and I would definitely not be ok with that happening.

Apple will still sell millions of iPhones regardless, but I think some people are underestimating the potential backlash this might have.

 

[dk001]

Exactly where is the data. Wireless networking is the de facto standard for all mobile devices. No one would ever contemplate plugging an Ethernet cable into their iPhone, with or without a dongle. Add to that, the fact there's a brand new BT 5 standard out there that no one has experienced first hand. And AirPlay is pretty darn impressive. As is Sonos wireless mesh system. There are no issues with audio quality on any of those devices. To suggest reliable wireless audio is years away from become standard is silly. It's here now, inexpensively, in regular consumer use. The ONLY potential drawback to wireless in the short term is life of battery, not quality of signal, and for many it won't even be an issue.



I believe that's why Apple has not already removed the 3.5mm headphone jack, as they were an active development partner in BT 5. And now BT 5 has been announced and low and behold rumors of a headphone-jackless iPhone are circulating to be released in a month.

Many of the criticisms about removing the jack revolve around poor BT quality, without considering that Apple wouldn't pull a stunt like this without offering something at least comparable to the 3.5mm experience. With the exception of battery life, they might actually do that. And the lack of wires is a benefit to any average idiot. Will they be appropriate for everyone and every situation? No. But they will for most, and for everyone else there's Lightning.

Also, Apple spends about $18 on their entire I/O chipset package, of which the DAC is just a part. So, getting similar quality to what Apple already outputs from the iPhone is hardly going to cost "serious money".

But .... The iPhone 6/6s/... currently supports 4.2 - supposedly. What does it use it for if at all? Roll out 5... with a lack of supportive peripherals, it makes more sense to roll out 5 support, leave the 3.5, then migrate to a non-3.5 and BT model for the succeeding version.

I'm seeing the rumors and pics. I'm not seeing the why.
[doublepost=1470486889][/doublepost]

...

I look forward to Apple removing the screen from the iPhone 8, so they can make it 1mm thinner again.

or removing the Lightning jack making it a true brick (wireless charging and bluetooth + NFC only).

 

[malexandria]

I don't like this at all, what the hell is wrong with the headphone jack??? No one was screaming "Oh my god, it's so old and and doesn't do anything. Please replace it." It's just another dick move from a company that doesn't know how to create real innovations anymore.

 

[maxsix]

It's funny reading the cultists fawn over wireless while forgetting you still have to charge the phone with a WIRE....

Yes Indeed!

Apple has a long history of addiction to wires.

Samsung's Android phones were receiving updates wirelessly, while iPhones were still tethered by a wire to users computers & iTunes.

This move by Apple has but one objective, that's to further fatten the company coffers. The masters of sleight of hand, Apple is reaching in to clean out our wallet again.

Smoke and Mirrors marketing is Apple's true expertise, they get better at it each day.

 

[malexandria]

Starting to come around to how a lot of folks feel about Tim Cooke. He's a good steward of the status quo and keeps the train running but he lacks vision. He's basically the Steve Balmer of Apple, only he's not as fun and goofy as Balmer is/was and Johnny Ive has shot his wad. Apple needs new blood.

 

[2457282]

I was riding the bus yesterday on my way home from work. I looked around and it was amazing to me that I saw more people with iPhones out than with Samsung. Did not see any other brand. About 50 percent had earbuds of one kind or another attached. Only one person who was talking was clearly using a BT device.

From this small sample, it seems like a long road to getting people on BT. But it also seems like eliminating the 3.5 jack will affect 50 percent of these bus riders. I rarely use the EarPods other than to make phone calls. I prefer to listen to music with speakers in my house at volumes that my wife always complains about.

I don't think that changing standards is a problem as standards do evolve over time. Transition periods are always interesting and rarely go smoothly if you do not have a plan and consensus amongst vendors. How many of the older crowd will remember the transition from video tape to digital disks to blue ray. Remember the laser disk? The transition was a bit of a mess as several standards were put forth and a lot of folks lost money by investing in the wrong standard. The only good thing was that it many vendors supported both old and new or multiple standards at the same time. I remember those strange machines that had both a VCR and a disk player built in.

So, pushing a standard that no one else has adopted is risky, but to eliminate the old standard at the same time seem like way too much risk. A smarter play would be to support both and then give preference to the new for a given transition period. A better approach would be to work with the industry to adopt a global standard like USBC.

It will be interesting to see what Apple does. If these rumors are all correct and they totally eliminate the 3.5, go it alone with the lightning standard, providing no transition and no way to charge simultaneously - well that is really the worst scenario I can think of. I really hope that they have something else when they release the phone next month. Because, although it does not really affect me directly, I can see this becoming a bad long term play for apple that could ultimately affect their viability as a seller of phones.

 

[Jax44]

I gladly turned my back on this greedy company after they eliminated the floppy drive on the iMac. And they absolutely lost me when they abandoned the opitical drive. Apple needs to understand how to make computers and gadgets that are useful to its users, but instead they give us locked-down bendable crap that is ugly and user hostile. They need to make computers that are fast and efficient so I can maximize my day.

If their motivation behind this latest stunt was to make more internal room in the next iPhone while making it thinner and to deliver a superior audio experience, then they really need to fire all of their product designers and start fresh. Preferably engineers who know what a real computer is and not some art school graduate who wants to "humanize" computers. No. That is not what we're asking for. We don't need stupid 3D Touch. We don't need stupid thinner and lighter phones. We don't need Lightning EarPods. What we need are things to stay the same, but better. What we need are heavier and thicker phones with enormous battery life, because I live on my phone for hours and hours at a time. What we need is a different Apple. An Apple that is more like Google.

Funny stuff

 

[Wanted797]

Guys you can buy lightning headphones on eBay and have been able to for awhile.

 

[I7guy]

I was riding the bus yesterday on my way home from work. I looked around and it was amazing to me that I saw more people with iPhones out than with Samsung. Did not see any other brand. About 50 percent had earbuds of one kind or another attached. Only one person who was talking was clearly using a BT device.

From this small sample, it seems like a long road to getting people on BT. But it also seems like eliminating the 3.5 jack will affect 50 percent of these bus riders. I rarely use the EarPods other than to make phone calls. I prefer to listen to music with speakers in my house at volumes that my wife always complains about.

I don't think that changing standards is a problem as standards do evolve over time. Transition periods are always interesting and rarely go smoothly if you do not have a plan and consensus amongst vendors. How many of the older crowd will remember the transition from video tape to digital disks to blue ray. Remember the laser disk? The transition was a bit of a mess as several standards were put forth and a lot of folks lost money by investing in the wrong standard. The only good thing was that it many vendors supported both old and new or multiple standards at the same time. I remember those strange machines that had both a VCR and a disk player built in.

So, pushing a standard that no one else has adopted is risky, but to eliminate the old standard at the same time seem like way too much risk. A smarter play would be to support both and then give preference to the new for a given transition period. A better approach would be to work with the industry to adopt a global standard like USBC.

It will be interesting to see what Apple does. If these rumors are all correct and they totally eliminate the 3.5, go it alone with the lightning standard, providing no transition and no way to charge simultaneously - well that is really the worst scenario I can think of. I really hope that they have something else when they release the phone next month. Because, although it does not really affect me directly, I can see this becoming a bad long term play for apple that could ultimately affect their viability as a seller of phones.

It seems you will still be able to plug your headphones in, just not in the headphone jack. I likened to the standard of going from 2.5 to 3.5 mm headphone jacks. It was a transition and I remember I had a whole bunch phone headphones that I threw out when that happened.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

It seems you will still be able to plug your headphones in, just not in the headphone jack. I likened to the standard of going from 2.5 to 3.5 mm headphone jacks. It was a transition and I remember I had a whole bunch phone headphones that I threw out when that happened.

Back when the standard on phones was 2.5, most people was listening to music on a separate device, like iPods and MP3 players which had a 3.5 jack. Today people exclusively rely on their phones.

 

[I7guy]

Back when the standard on phones was 2.5, most people was listening to music on a separate device, like iPods and MP3 players which had a 3.5 jack. Today people exclusively rely on their phones.

It's true that the separate devices have all been rolled into one due to technology advances (they haven't fit a cassette in the iphone form factor though). But my point is I do not think apple is taking away the ability to plug a set of wired headphones in. It will be plugged into the lightning port.

 

[jonnysods]

I honestly think that if they get rid of the 3.5mm jack they will force wireless on everyone. They wouldn't want to go backwards and add a bulkier connector would they?

 

[2457282]

It seems you will still be able to plug your headphones in, just not in the headphone jack. I likened to the standard of going from 2.5 to 3.5 mm headphone jacks. It was a transition and I remember I had a whole bunch phone headphones that I threw out when that happened.

Great comparison. I almost forgot about that. And I had adapters that allowed me to in both directions. So yes it won't make life impossible, but there will be a transition period that will make people uncomfortable. Again my two questions are if the new standard (lightning) is really the future and the ability to charge simultaneously. If Apple has done it right we should be impressed at the announcement. But I think there is legitimate reason for folks to be concerned at this point.

 

[I7guy]

Great comparison. I almost forgot about that. And I had adapters that allowed me to in both directions. So yes it won't make life impossible, but there will be a transition period that will make people uncomfortable. Again my two questions are if the new standard (lightning) is really the future and the ability to charge simultaneously. If Apple has done it right we should be impressed at the announcement. But I think there is legitimate reason for folks to be concerned at this point.

You can't worry about what you can't change. Thankfully there are alternatives for people for whom the headphone jack is a priority.

 

[HEK]

I'm very sure they won't. Why would Apple encourage people to continue using their old 3.5mm equipment?



This is the closest I have to any kind of study/survey ...

http://www.macnn.com/articles/16/01...o.ask.apple.shoppers.what.they.thought.131986



Neither. The standard will be wireless.

When given a choice, I connect wireless, to car, to Apple TV, to speakers, I use the ear buds or head phone so rarely I can easily see the direction Apple is going.

Sure some people will gripe, but if Apple says the sun rises in east, some people would gripe and take issue. Since technically sun does not rise, earth rotates exposing the sun.

Apple has stated many times they don't use focus groups or even ask what consumers want in their phones. If they operated this way, the original iPhone would never have been made. Everyone wanted a hard keypad until Apple decided on it's own the customer was largely wrong.

Polls, hand wringing, predictions of doom and reduced sales, all irrelevant to what Apple will or won't do.

Dangling wires days are coming to a close. The Apple Watch never came with a dangling wire between phone and watch. Soon wire between phone and earbuds/earphones will diminish to point of oddity.

For some, a very few, this will be catastrophic. For vast majority it will be an adjustment. It will be a choice between continuing with iPhone for variety of reasons, style, iOS, connectivity, whatever or going with an alternative till that alternative also moves in same direction of eliminating the cords. And they will if history shows anything at all.

At this point all is speculation, probably best to see what Apple offers, and an explanation of why they are moving in a particular direction. One thing for sure, our personal communications devices sure garner a passion akin to some that religion previously held. I'm not sure the isolation from fellow humans we are displaying is better for society. Observing people I note that we are far more engaged with our phones than other people standing next to us. Have witnessed girls texting each other that are sitting right beside each other, truelly remarkable.

 

[r3m1]

It is going to be hilarious to see how many of the lightning headphones from other suppliers will show a "this device is not supported" message when iOS gets an update - great way for Apple to push Beats as dominant headphones

 

[Loco Emperor]

It's hilarious how ignorant some of you are. First of all this is my first iPhone. Secondly if I am a fanboy it is too Microsoft and windows products. Just saying.

I don't charge my phone and listen to music at the same time. If I want to listen now then I will use my wireless headphones which negates the issue if it was an issue for me.
[doublepost=1470492301][/doublepost]

And the Smugs don't realize that MANY people use 3.5mm, multiple times, every day. This is not the floppy, nor the CD-ROM. With the focus on Apple Music, you would think that Apple would want to maximize the ability to play music, not detract.

Couple that with bluetooth needing to be recharged daily, running out of juice when on the go, misplaced adapters, etc... and this will be much more painful, for WAY more users than the prior "forward thinking standard removals" Apple has done in the past.

And something the Smugs like you NEVER talk about, is that this amazing move forward could have progresses as it, seeing as you already had the same capabilities since the iPhone 5 - lightening connector. Using SMug logic, you should have switched entirely over to lightening headphones, or are enjoying recharging your wireless headphones daily.

Here's hoping all Smugs forget to charge their headphones, on a daily basis.

Nah I don't forget to charge my headphones daily anymore than I forget to charge my portable charger or tablet or kindle or any of the equipment I need. Try again bud.

 

[r3m1]

When given a choice, I connect wireless, to car, to Apple TV, to speakers, I use the ear buds or head phone so rarely I can easily see the direction Apple is going.

Sure some people will gripe, but if Apple says the sun rises in east, some people would gripe and take issue. Since technically sun does not rise, earth rotates exposing the sun.

Apple has stated many times they don't use focus groups or even ask what consumers want in their phones. If they operated this way, the original iPhone would never have been made. Everyone wanted a hard keypad until Apple decided on it's own the customer was largely wrong.

Polls, hand wringing, predictions of doom and reduced sales, all irrelevant to what Apple will or won't do.

Dangling wires days are coming to a close. The Apple Watch never came with a dangling wire between phone and watch. Soon wire between phone and earbuds/earphones will diminish to point of oddity.

For some, a very few, this will be catastrophic. For vast majority it will be an adjustment. It will be a choice between continuing with iPhone for variety of reasons, style, iOS, connectivity, whatever or going with an alternative till that alternative also moves in same direction of eliminating the cords. And they will if history shows anything at all.

At this point all is speculation, probably best to see what Apple offers, and an explanation of why they are moving in a particular direction. One thing for sure, our personal communications devices sure garner a passion akin to some that religion previously held. I'm not sure the isolation from fellow humans we are displaying is better for society. Observing people I note that we are far more engaged with our phones than other people standing next to us. Have witnessed girls texting each other that are sitting right beside each other, truelly remarkable.

Without the Galaxy Note Apple would have never released 6S plus, like any company they do listen what customers want, they just choose to ignore certain aspects that are more profitable for Apple, like a closed ecosystem, omitting industry standard interfaces (a lightning connector has not made life easier), etc.